Padmanabhan Palpu (2 November 1863 – 25 January 1950) was a physician from the Kingdom of Travancore who served as a chief medical officer of Mysore State and led social activism for the Ezhava case in Kerala and a movement for social equality. In 1903, he founded the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (Society for the Propagation of the teachings of Sree Narayana Guru), whose first president was Narayana Guru, who sought an end to the caste system and preached his concept of "one caste, one religion, one god." His son Nataraja Guru became a successor of Narayana Guru. Palpu has been described as the "political father" of the Ezhavas.
Early life and education
Palpu was born in Petta, Trivandrum, then in the Kingdom of Travancore, India. His family consisted of wealthy and well-educated members who came from the Ezhava caste. The Ezhavas were traditionally occupied as weavers, farmers and some of them were employed as toddy tappers. In addition, many had involvements in agriculture and ayurvedic medicine, and they were also occupied as shopkeepers, astrologists, businessmen and landlords.
Palpu, who had learned English from a Eurasian tutor from the age of 12, attended Maharaja's College in Trivandrum and matriculated there in 1883. He then wrote the examination for admission to medical studies. He was denied the admission though he ranked second. It was common knowledge that his caste-related birth determined the decision, even though the official reason given was that he was beyond the age limit. Like his older brother, he seems to have been able to use his family's association with Christian missionaries to avoid the usual rule in the kingdom that Ezhavas were forbidden from school attendance. He was subsequently refused admission to Travancore Medical College due to his caste. From 1885, he attended Madras Medical College, which was outside the kingdom, having raised money to do so through subscriptions and taking on debt. His financial situation was dire by the end of the first year, when he received an honour certificate, but he was able to complete the course with the aid of donations from various high-placed people. These donations were carefully scripted to prevent him from later taking up a position within the government, as Ezhavas were forbidden from such employment and many higher caste doctors would in any event refuse to work with lower caste colleagues. He went to England to further his medical training at London and Cambridge. Back in India and having been awarded his Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery in 1889, he found that his caste status prevented him from obtaining employment in the Travancore Health Service, which meant that he had to relocate to Mysore to get work.
Mysore state service
Palpu became the chief medical officer of Mysore State. His salary was more than the salary of Travancore Diwan. Later he was selected to the British General Medical Council for virology. After his retirement, he was offered the post of Diwan in Baroda, but refused the offer. He was able to work for the British there as a public health doctor.
Social activism
Becoming aware of the importance of education as a method of socio-economic advancement and also as means to improve health and hygiene, Palpu was the third signatory to the "Malayali Memorial", a petition organised and submitted to the Maharaja of Travancore on January 1, 1891, that primarily sought to address the concerns of those members of the Nair community and other castes, who were in government jobs but felt that the best of those jobs were dominated by non-Malayali Brahmins. The petition was amended to include a statement on the injustices faced by Ezhavas and was published in the Madras Times in July. Whilst the Memorial had no success, according to Robin Jeffrey it did indicate to Palpu a method by which he could continue to campaign for the improved position of Ezhavas in society. Caroline Wilson notes that he also petitioned the Houses of Parliament while in England.